The Undertaking of Lily Chen #1

In The Undertaking of Lily Chen, Deshi, a young man struggling to make a life for himself in rural China, watches his life comes unhinged when he accidentally kills his older brother in a fight. His distraught parents send him on a hopeless journey to acquire a bride for his brother to marry posthumously so he doesn't enter the next world alone—an ancient Chinese tradition with many modern adherents. Eligible female corpses are in short supply, however. When Deshi falls into company with a beautiful, angry, and single young woman named Lily, he sees a solution to his problems. The only hitch is Lily is still very much alive. Danica Novgorodoff, author of Slow Storm and Refresh, Refresh, brings her distinctive voice and gorgeous, moody watercolors to this wry, beautiful, and surprising literary graphic novel.more

The art is interesting, to say the least. It's very different, but it fits the story. Each panel is water colored which gives it a nice look. The line work/brush work is simple and yet maintains a level of detailed. It's deceiving in that way to the untrained eye. There's visual humor and gags as well that go along with what I previously mentioned about the story. Overall it's a style that would need to accompany a particular story type, but then that's the charm of Novgorodoff's style. If like me, you haven't checked out The Undertaking of Lily Chen, then give it a chance. It's one of the most unique graphic novel's I've ever read and a standout title from First Second. Read Full Review

The ending silent sequence is satisfying, especially with the splashes of an orange and yellow sunset firing up the death-like gray ground. The ending sequence is a short and complex melody, with undertones of anger, loss and sadness but with a final impression of relief and hard-won triumph and freedom. Read Full Review

Archaia rightly deserves credit for the high quality that they put into designing their graphic novels; however, I would argue 01:FirstSecond delivers equally eye-catching book that are just as thoughtfully designed. From the haunting and yet beautiful cover down to the quality of the paper used for both the cover and interior, this is yet another book from 01:FirstSecond that calls out to be read. And rest assured, The Undertaking of Lily Chen delivers a story that is unexpected and satisfying. Read Full Review